Elena Lauren Gilbert stared blankly at her moving feet upon the dull sidewalk. The soles of her shoes knew the path well.
The tiny Pomeranian tied to the black leash in her hand was walking happily next to Elena. It was completely oblivious to the thoughts racing around inside her mind.
Everyone probably was unless they were telepathic which Elena highly doubted although she never deemed it impossible.
Her long slender legs carried her to a chipping green park bench where she sat and stared out at the old desolate playground. It was slowly decaying.
What once was a silver slide was now a rusty hunk of junk that desperately hung on to it's holder. The swings wooden planks were soggy and infested with god knows what that no one dared sit on them. Leaves, trash and other unmentionables scattered every inch of the place and yet it looked almost magical to Elena's ocean eyes.
It was her escape from the tiny town she lived in where everyone knew everyone and everything about everyone.
Although, Elena had remained one of the quiet mysteries the wrinkled face women sitting on their porches would gabble about. She preferred it that way even though it often gave people a very wrong impression about her.
If no one knew anything about you they'd make up anything their imagines could come up with. The Gilbert's altogether were usually keeping to themselves except for Mrs. Gilbert who was part of the high social circle around the town.
She was constantly scolding her family for not getting out and getting to know the neighbors. Elena knew the neighbors, she knew absolutely everyone but she just didn't want to associate with them.
She wasn't an outcast, she had three close friends and that was enough.
Elena found it pointless to try and be everyone's friend when in the end they'd stab you in the back and share all your secrets that you had shared with them.
Not that she could possibly know seeing as how she never gave anyone much of a chance.
Trust was a hard thing to give. She didn't even trust her family. Especially her mother who had the biggest mouth possible and was the gossip queen of Mystic Falls.
Fang, the furry little Pomeranian yipped annoyingly and Elena stared down at the white little snowball. "Ready to go back?"
Fang spun in a quick circle, her tiny pink tongue hanging lazily out of her mouth. Elena sighed and walked back to her large four story house.
"Mom I'm home!"
"Lauren honey come in here!"
Lauren was Mrs. Gilbert's name for Elena. She didn't like the name Elena but Mr. Gilbert won the rock, paper, scissors battle to name their child Elena and use Lauren for the middle name.
Elena was glad her father had won. Elena, in her book, was an awesome name.
"Lauren" let Fang off her leash and strolled into the kitchen where her stomach lodged itself somewhere in her rectum.
Not technically of course.
"Lena you remember the Salvatores don't you sweetie?"
It was kind of hard to forget.
Elena nodded slightly not really able to make her vocal cords function.
"Oh Miranda she's beautiful!" Mrs. Salvatore gushed, scanning Elena up and down.
Miranda beamed, "She definitely has grown up!"
Elena tuned out the two women as her sapphire eyes landed on the teenage boy pouring tea for the two mothers. His face was hidden by cupboards hanging over the counter in the main kitchen area.
"Damon come say hello!" Mrs. Salvatores said smiling wide. Damon came into full view looking bored and annoyed with his mother.
Elena practically crapped out her stomach. He looked so different...and yet was the same Damon she had always remembered.
"Hey."
"Hello."
The two women laughed loudly. "Elena why don't you and Damon go catch up," Miranda suggested, more like demanded.
Elena walked quietly out of the kitchen and up the stairs to one of the three living rooms.
Damon plopped down upon the couch while Elena tensely took a seat on the other end.
Two sets of eyes stared at a blank television screen.
Talk or not to talk?
"Elena-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"So we're never going to move on?"
"Oh, I've moved on."
"Doesn't seem like it Gilbert."
"How would you know Salvatore? You never really knew anything."
His Blue eyes flashed dangerously but Elena just stared at the unmoving screen in front of her. It reflected two people back at her almost teasingly.
"I knew more than you would let me. It was your own fault."
Elena snapped her head towards him. "It was not my fault. If anyone is at fault here it's you!"
"And what did I do that drove us to where we are now?" He asked with a small smirk.
Damon knew exactly what it was and he wanted to hear the words come from Elena's soft lips. He was taunting her, and Elena's already dead heart was falling apart again.
She'd never even admitted it to herself and now she would either have to admit out loud for both to hear or lie...
So she chose neither and decided to skip over the question.
"You know exactly what you did."
"But I thought I didn't know anything. So please, enlighten me."
That plan had just been thrown out the window.
"What do want me to say? Why are you doing this? Do you take pleasure in breaking my heart every second you get to?" Elena's eyes drooped at what she had asked.
Although it wasn't an out right confession, she still had said that Damon broke her heart.
Damon smirked. "I don't take pleasure in breaking your heart Gilbert but I do enjoy watching you struggle against yourself to hug me and cry all your pain away while I hold you."
Elena grabbed the remote and turned on the TV not wanting to talk, afraid that she might do or say something stupid.
Damon clicked the off button.
"Why don't you do it?"
"Because I hate you! I hate everything about you Salvatores! I don't want you back and I never will. I admit, you broke my heart! There, you have what you wanted now just leave me the hell alone!"
"What I wanted? How could you possibly know what I want?"
"Well I don't care what you want."
She hit the on button and watched as the black faded into the news. Damon once again turned it off.
"Why can't we just talk?"
Elena stood up fuming, "Did you miss the part where I said I hate you?"
She angrily threw the remote at him and stormed off to the confines of her room where music immediately started pumping through the speakers and Elena fell onto her bed letting the music take her away to any place but then where she was at the moment.
Anywhere but here...